


Since I Was in the Neighborhood...

by danceswithhamsters01



Series: Reddit Prompts [20]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening
Genre: Apparently Towers Are a Mage's Natural Habitat, Gen, Surprise Visit to a Friend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-11
Updated: 2018-12-11
Packaged: 2019-09-16 02:54:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16945620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/danceswithhamsters01/pseuds/danceswithhamsters01
Summary: Based on a prompt from r/dragonageKing Alistair decides to surprise his friend, the Warden-Commander, with an unannounced visit.





	Since I Was in the Neighborhood...

Prompt 6, image prompt:[ https://dornob.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/old-brick-stone-metal-spiral-staircase.jpg](https://dornob.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/old-brick-stone-metal-spiral-staircase.jpg)

 

He stared up at the tightly wound staircase, feeling the slightest hint of dizziness. Perhaps insisting on coming unannounced hadn't been his best idea. He knew she would've gladly rolled out the best of the keep's welcome mats, so to speak, if she knew he was there. More importantly, he wouldn't have to trudge up that cursed staircase in heavy armor. She would've insisted on receiving him in the throne room on the main floor. _What_ _is_ _it with mages and towers, anyway?_

 

"The Commander's laboratory is at the top of this tower, your Majesty," one of the newer Grey Wardens, a slip of an elven man with a mop of curly auburn hair and sun-kissed tan skin, said. The staff at his back had a polished orb of sunstone held between the gaping maws of two carved drakes at the top, marking him as one of her mages.

 

He followed the mage for what felt like ages as they followed the curling steps, crawling ever upwards. Finally, the twirling stopped and they reached a landing. At one end of the hall stood a large window. Alistair slowly made his way to it and took in the scene below. It had been several months since the second attack on the keep. While workmen were busy making repairs, it was still plain to see that the structures were far from being ready for another assault, let alone day to day dwelling, in most cases. In the training yard, a red-maned man, likely Roland, was drilling a batch of recruits. Even this high up, he could hear the echoes of his barked commands. In her last letter to Denerim, she had made mention of how her superiors in Weisshaupt were less than thrilled that she'd gone to Amaranthine to save the city rather than defend the seat of her power.

 

 _Y_ _ou can always get more stone from a quarry, but people are not so easily replaced_ , she'd written. He frowned. She'd lost three of her seven Wardens and half of her soldiers during the attack. While she'd pressed on with more recruiting, the elven man waiting patiently for him being but one example, he was fairly certain she was stinging from the loss and blaming herself.

 

"How long have you been here, Warden...?" he asked.

 

The mage straightened and saluted. "Perry, your Majesty, and six months. I took my Joining three months ago."

 

_That would mean he was here for..._

 

"The Commander had er... rescued me a week before the attack," the elf added. A polite way of saying she'd stolen him from the Templars, much like she had with her very first recruit, a mage called Anders.

 

Alistair had gotten many letters of complaint from both the Grand Cleric and various Knight-Commanders in the kingdom. Fortunately for Commander Amell, she'd very clearly invoked the Right of Conscription with witnesses present in each instance. Strangely enough, it seemed like only mages were being "conscripted." Officially, his hands were tied. Unofficially, he was greatly amused. Some noses needed a tweaking.

 

Perry opened a door and nodded toward it, holding a finger over his lips. Parts of a conversation in progress drifted out into the hall.

 

"Careful, now! We're making poultices, not explosives, recruit!" a feminine voice scolded.

 

"The Commander's in the middle of a lesson with some recruits," Perry whispered to him as the king drew near the door.

 

A small human woman with a black braid that reached her buttocks had her back to the pair in the doorway. She was in the customary blue, silver and black leather and brigandine armor of Grey Warden magi. Only the massive griffon-shaped pauldron on her left shoulder indicated her rank: Commander of the Grey. Three other people were in the lab with her. Two were human women who wore leather armor and tabards with the double-griffon insignia of the Wardens, most likely new recruits. The third was a dwarven woman in what looked like a Circle mage's regalia, minus the veil. She looked a bit familiar....

 

"Mage Dagna, would you care to demonstrate the proper method for adding the distillation agent to a health poultice to our students?" the Commander said with a smirk in her voice.

 

The dwarf grabbed a step stool and made her way to the workbench. After getting herself settled, she beckoned the recruits closer and began talking her way through the process at a fast clip. Perry gave a polite cough, drawing the Commander's attention.

 

"Yes, Perry, what is--" the question died in her throat as she looked over and saw the mage's companion and gasped.

 

"Dagna? Would you be a dear and finish up the lesson for me? It would seem I have an important matter to attend to that just came up," Sevarra said to the dwarven arcanist before rushing to the door.

 

After hastily closing the door behind her, she chuckled and grabbed the bigger man into a hug. He smirked and held the small mage close. It was like older times, before being saddled with a crown or the task of rebuilding an Order. Afterward, she seemed to realize they weren't alone and the faux paux she'd just committed and coughed into her fist, cheeks red.

 

"Alis-- Your Majesty. I wasn't informed of your coming to visit! My apologies for a lack of a proper reception."

 

"Quite alright. I wanted to see how things were going for myself," he grinned.

 

After sending Warden Perry ahead to the kitchens to inform the cook to have a meal ready as soon as he was able, the pair began slowly making their way back down those infernal twisting stairs, banter easily bouncing between them, as if they hadn't been apart for most of a year. He vastly preferred that over the bowing and overly formal language an "official" visit anywhere he went entailed. At least here, he was seen as a friend first and king second.


End file.
